古代インドの女性観 (4)

DOI 機関リポジトリ Web Site オープンアクセス

書誌事項

タイトル別名
  • Women in Ancient India (IV)
  • コダイ インド ノ ジョセイカン 4

この論文をさがす

抄録

Three topics, of uneven length, are discussed in this paper: (1) The way women can prove their chastity when suspected of infidelity. Two cases are presented: (1-1) Sita I translate Valmiki's Ramayana 6.102-106 into Japanese. In this fragment, Rama, who fears public rumour (janapavada), rejects Sita after recovering her from her confinement in the Lanka Island. In spite of her piteous protest, Rama does not accept her, and as human means (manusa-pramana) fail to prove her innocence, Sita resorts to divine means, i.e. ordeal (daivika-pramana). She invokes Agni, the fire god, and steps into it. Agni, however, does not burn her and thus testifies to her chastity. (1-2) Yasodhara Yasodhara, one of Sakyamuni's wives (the other two being Gupika and Mrgi), was doubted of her lack of chastity because she conceived just before the Buddha's departure from the palace and delivered on the same day of his awakening-the well-known story of Rahu's six-year stay in his mother's womb. According to several sutras preserved in Chinese translation, Suddhodana, her father-in-law, and other people accused her of being unchaste and sentenced her to death. Yasodhara (in some variants, together with Rahu) was thrown into fire, but the fire turned into a pond, which proved her chastity. In another narrative version, she herself threw Rahu, tied to a stone, into a pond in order to prove that he was a legitimate son. Water did not let Rahu sink, and this testified to Yasodhara's chastity. I translate and discuss six Chinese sutras describing the fire-ordeal and seven texts containing the water-ordeal, alongside their Sanskrit equivalents. Compared to the ordeal (divya) prescribed in later Smrti literature, these narratives are simple and closely related to sapatha and satya-vacana. (2) Jati-smarana (The miraculous power of a chaste woman) I offer a Japanese translation of Visnu-purana 3.18.53-104. This is a story of a king who undergoes bad re-births because of his talking to a heretic (pasanda). His queen, however, refuses to speak with the heretic and does not even look at him, keeping instead her eyes on the Sun. Even after her death as a sati, she continues to be faithful to the king and retains his memory. Because of her chastity, she is able to find her husband six times in various forms (dog, jackal, etc,) until she is finally united with him. (3) The story of Dirghatamas I translate Mahabharata 1.98 and 12.328.43-51 into Japanese. The lustful sage Brhaspati seduced Mamata, (the wife of Utathya, Brhaspati's own brother), and unites with her against her will. As Mamata was already pregnant with Dirghatamas, the latter notices Brhaspati's penis entering his mother's womb and kicks it out saying there is no room for his tejas or retas. Discovering that his semen was wasted and fell on earth, Brhaspaiti becomes angry and curses Dirghatamas to be born blind (jaty-andha). (The story seems to presuppose complete darkness in the womb.)

収録刊行物

関連プロジェクト

もっと見る

詳細情報

問題の指摘

ページトップへ